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Fast/Cleanse/Detox for Weight Loss?

When individuals want to lose weight, it's very common for them to gravitate towards a "quick fix." Unfortunately, even thinking about a quick fix, in terms of weight loss, is going to send someone down a very dark and lonely road. Individuals will say things such as, "I just need to jumpstart my weight loss." This is a very common statement. And more often than not, the jumpstart is just another food fad/diet. This is what will cause individuals to gravitate towards cleanses, fasting, intermittent fasting, etc. Are these diet fads like this a good thing? In short, the answer is, absolutely not. Anything that is a diet/food fad should be avoided; that is of course, if individuals are looking for meaningful and sustainable results for a lifetime. The one guarantee of any diet/food fad is this; individuals that embrace such diets and food fads like the ones mentioned above are pretty much guaranteed to regain some, all or even more of the weight they lost while on this diet/food fad.

Diets such as fasting and detox tend to be attractive to folks wanting to lose weight. Let's set the stage. An individual is overweight and they really want to get their body weight down. They are tired of being tired. They feel lethargic from overeating and they just want to feel better. They want to try to "erase" what they have done to their body in terms of overeating, as quickly as possible. Often times, this draws people towards fasting, intermittent fasting, etc. Is this healthy? Well, virtually all medical experts will agree that self-prescribed fasting is not an acceptable modality for weight loss.

According to Madelyn Fernstrom, PhD, CNS, founder and director of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's Weight Loss Management Center, "The appeal is that [fasting] is quick, but it is quick fluid loss, not substantial weight loss" Dr. Fernstorm goes on to say, "If it's easy off, it will come back quickly -- as soon as you start eating normally again." "Fasting is nota weight loss tool. Fasting slows your metabolic rate down so your diet from before the fast is even more fattening after you fast," says Joel Fuhrman M.D. And as mentioned above, there is your guarantee to regain some, all or even more of the weight you lost. This means that there is a very good chance that individuals will end up weighing even more after such diets and food fads.

In addition, individuals may gravitate towards a 'cleanse.' They think that this cleanse will help to eliminate toxins, etc., from their body. "Fasts are sometimes accompanied with enemas to cleanse your intestinal tract and that can be very dangerous," says Dr. Fernstrom. "The intestinal tract has a lot of good bacteria. When you are changing that balance, the good bacteria are affected, too."

Food fads and diets like fasting and cleansing create fast weight loss (and an even faster weight gain). In addition, rapid weight loss can have risky side effects such as:

According to Donald Hensrud, M.D., "If you lose a lot of weight very quickly, you may not lose as much fat as you would with a more modest rate of weight loss. Instead, you might lose water weight or even lean tissue (muscle), since it's hard to burn that many fat calories in a short period."

As a general rule, individuals that attempt such diets fall under the umbrella of, chronic dieters; meaning that they will jump from one diet and food fad to the next. They lose a few pounds on one diet, and then regain it all (or more) right back. And as a result, they bounce from one food fad and diet to the next. These chronic dieters experience weight cycling (also called yo-yo dieting); this is simply the ongoing loss and then re-gain of body weight. Weight cycling can be quite dangerous. It has been linked to an increased risk of diabetes, hypertension and rapid aging. In addition, women who weight cycle (yo-yo diet) were found to gain even more weight over time than non-dieters/non-weight cyclers.

In summary, when individuals are looking for a quick fix for weight loss, this is not going to lead to meaningful and sustainable results for a lifetime. And this is where 9Round Nutrition helps individuals’ breakthrough the clutter and take the guesswork out of fueling their body right for body transformation success. Let's ditch the diet and let's set the body up for success. Let's get the body properly fueled, that way you will be on the path towards meaningful and sustainable results for a lifetime.